1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to rescue worker training apparatus, and more particularly to firefighter training apparatus, and still more particularly to apparatus for training firefighters safe and effective roof ventilation procedures.
2. Discussion of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR §§1.97, 1.98
In firefighting, roof ventilation is a procedure employed to create a draft with an opening above the firefighter entry point to the structure. It is created so that heat and smoke will be released up and out the vent. This is intended to help firefighters find and suppress the fire. Without such ventilation, a large fire can rapidly accumulate incompletely burned smoke, and this creates a danger of smoke explosions. Heat buildup can also give rise to a flashover danger. Accordingly, roof venting can be critical to the successful arrest of a large fire.
Ventilation can be accomplished in a number of ways. In some instances, the firefighter will find an existing opening in a structure—properly situated dormer windows, skylights, heating vents, and the like—and these structures can be employed to accomplish the venting. Additionally, a fire itself may create a vent by burning a hole in the roof in a process known as “auto-venting.” But if a vent is called for and does not yet exist, the firefighter must create one by using a saw, such as a chain saw or a specialized tool for hole cutting. When performing the venting procedure, the safety of the procedure rests in part on cutting a hole in a portion of the roof that does not include load bearing rafters. If the firefighter inadvertently cuts through rafters, the roof may suffer an area collapse, imperiling the firefighter and any others who may be nearby.
Thus, it is imperative that firefighters be properly trained in safe roof ventilation procedures. This entails teaching the firefighter to detect and then to avoid cutting rafters while cutting holes in roof decking. As with all critical firefighting operations, it is woefully insufficient to have only an academic understanding of the process while not also having numerous direct practical experiences in ventilation operations. Thus, routine and repeated practice is required to ensure that firefighters will safely and effectively perform the procedure in real conditions. The challenge, of course, is in providing a practice environment that is itself safe, sufficiently realistic, and economical to use. The present invention addresses this need.
There are numerous prior art publications that describe simulated environments for firefighter training. Among them are U.S. Pat. No. 6,889,473, to Westra, which teaches a firefighter training building with a system of movable and removable partition walls for changing the interior floor plan layout of the building. The system uses tracks above the movable walls and movable and removable wall panels slidably mounted on the tracks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,548, to Livingston, discloses a mobile firefighter training trailer. The trailer is divided into rooms and passages and includes simulated appliances and furniture pieces in the various rooms. A smoke generator is employed to supply smoke to selected locations in the trailer, and flame generating devices in the simulated appliances and furniture pieces create flames that can be extinguished with appropriate extinguishing agents. A ventilation system and sprinkler system are provided for the safety of the trainee.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,358,057, to Bishop, describes a firefighter training device for training a firefighter in proper window breaking and clearing techniques. It includes a frame, transparent impact resistant panels arranged in a coplanar orientation to fill the frame, and panel retaining assemblies to hold the panels in position. When the panels are struck, one of the panels breaks away as the panel retaining assembly releases that panel. The remaining panels are then struck to cause those panels to break away and to simulate the proper action of clearing the window after it has been initially broken. After the exercise is complete, the panels are restored to the frame so that the exercise can be repeated.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,877,988, to Phillips, et al, shows a door breach training system that includes a door and frame with replaceable shear pins designed to break under known pressures to simulate pressures required to breach doors of varying physical characteristics and lock configurations.
The foregoing patents reflect the current state of the art of which the present inventors are aware. Reference to, and discussion of, these patents is intended to aid in discharging Applicants' acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be relevant to the examination of claims to the present invention. However, it is respectfully submitted that none of the above-indicated patents disclose, teach, suggest, show, or otherwise render obvious, either singly or when considered in combination, the inventive simulated adjustable pitch roof described and claimed herein.